Oscarshall Palace is a ''

maison de plaisance In Renaissance and Early Modern German architecture, a ''Lustschloss'' (french: maison de plaisance, both equating in English to "pleasure castle/house") is a small country house or palace which served the private pleasure of its owner, usuall ...

'' located in the small fjord

Frognerkilen Frognerkilen is a bay in the inner Oslofjord of Norway, east of the Bygdøy peninsula. Its name stems from the neighbourhood Frogner, a name which was taken from a farm. It was formerly known, with Bestumkilen, under the name of Ladegaardsfjordene ...

Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy belongs to the borough of Frogner; historically Bygdøy was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

History

The palace was built from 1847 to 1852 by the Danish architect

Johan Henrik Nebelong Johan Henrik Nebelong (20 July 1817 – 2 March 1871) was a Danish architect. He worked in Norway from 1840 to 1853 and was best known for interior design work on ''Oscarshall'' (1847–1852). Nebelong also taught at the Royal Academy of Arts in ...

on commission from King Oscar I and Queen Joséphine of Norway and Sweden. In 1881, King

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

opened the palace to the public as a museum. The palace, with its secondary buildings and surrounding park, is considered to be one of the finest examples of

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

in Norway and is one of the country's most important embodiments of the National Romantic style which was popular in Norway during the period. The interior was wholly constructed and decorated by Norwegian artists and artisans. The walls of the dining hall are decorated with paintings by

Joachim Frich Joachim Christian Geelmuyden Gyldenkrantz Frich (24 July 1810 - 29 January 1858) was a Norwegian landscape painter. He was associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting (''Düsseldorf-skolen''). Biography Joachim Frich was from Bergen, Norw ...

and

Adolph Tidemand Adolph Tidemand (14 August 18148 August 1876) was a noted Norwegian romantic nationalism painter. Among his best known paintings are ''Haugianerne'' (''The Haugeans''; 1852) and '' Brudeferd i Hardanger'' (''The Bridal Procession in Hardanger''; ...

, while the decoration and furniture in the drawing room evokes the style of the old Norwegian guildhall. Oscarshall was sold by King Carl IV to the Norwegian state in 1863. The palace was almost given a new role when it was decided in 1929 that Oscarshall would become the new residence of

Crown Prince Olav Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norw ...

and Princess Märtha. These plans were never realized, however, as both financial problems and political opposition arose. The situation was later solved when

Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg ''Baron'' Frederik (Fritz) Hartvig Herman Wedel Jarlsberg (7 July 1855– 27 July 1942) was a Norwegian aristocrat, jurist and diplomat. Biography Fredrik Wedel Jarlsberg was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Baron Fred ...

sold his estate

Skaugum Skaugum is an estate, manor house and the official residence of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The estate is located in Asker municipality, southwest of Oslo, by the foot of the mountain Skaugumsåsen. The ...

to the royal couple. Today it is the property of the state and is placed at the disposal of the King.

Open to the public

Between 2005 and 2009 Oscarshall underwent a total renovation and restoration, bringing colours and furniture back to its original style from 1859. The renovation completed, Oscarshall was once again open to the public. The palace is now open for guided tours during the summer season. In 2013,

Queen Sonja Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relations ...

opened

the Queen Joséphine Gallery ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on the grounds of Oscarshall. The gallery exhibits graphic prints and featured prints by Her Majesty herself during its first season.Oscarshall's history
at the Official Website of the Norwegian Royal Family

Additional images

File:Oscarshall 20090906-8.JPG, Oscarshall Castle File:Oscarshall front med fontene.jpg, Oscarshall Castle, front with garden and fountain File:Oscarshall sett fra Gimle.jpg, Oscarshall with surroundings seen from Gimlehøyden File:Christiania. Oscarshall.jpg, Oscarshall and Frognerkilen on

photochrome Photochrom, Fotochrom, Photochrome or the Aäc process is a process for producing colorized images from a single black-and-white photographic negative via the direct photographic transfer of the negative onto lithographic printing plates. The proc ...

from the 1890s File:Hilsen fra Christiania, 1908.jpg, «Hilsen fra Christiania»; Skating ''

nisser Nisser is a lake in Nissedal, Norway. It is the 13th-largest lake in the nation by area with a surface area of , the 10th largest by volume at 7.19 km³, and the 13th deepest at . It is located in Nissedal and Kviteseid municipality in Ves ...

'' in

in Oslo with Oscarshall in the background. File:Norge fremstillet i Tegninger - no-nb digibok 2009113013003-31.jpg, Oscarshall; from the poster work "Norge fremstillet i Tegninger" from 1899.

References

External links

Oscarshall (Website of The Royal House of Norway)
*

** ttp://www.royalcourt.no/artikkel.html?tid=80429&sek=80425 The History of Oscarshall (Website of The Royal House of Norway) {{Authority control Bygdøy Buildings and structures in Oslo Palaces in Norway Royal residences in Norway Museums in Oslo Gothic Revival architecture in Norway 1852 establishments in Norway Historic house museums in Norway

History

Open to the public

Additional images

References

Related reading

External links